This image floats over Charmbridge as a constant reminder to her students that her word is LAW and that instead of a dark dean, they have a queen; beautiful and terrible as the dawn, tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth!
It gets the message across to the student body that they must love her and despair.........OR ELSE!
OMG!!!! Talk about...WHOA!!!! BEST CHAPTER EVER!!!! I think I'll go over those "sonnets" again and see if I can glean any more meaning. I was a bit confused like Alex was upon hearing that also. Wonder if Alex will do what the stars asked and/or tell her friends everything that happened in her conversation with the Star's Above? Waiting on tenderhooks for the next chapter!!!!
What a chapter. So many revelations, which titillate, but don't reveal. Will Alex really kill someone (probably, perhaps John Manuelitto), or won't she, à la Harry and Voldie? Is the curse that all around her will die one that she cannot escape from? Finally, I see that they are not firm about her dying.
Anyway, the Stars Above don't seem much friendlier than Death, and I wonder whether there are more sinister powers in the Lands Beyond. This is shaping up like a Greek tragedy, with lot of gods fightig each other and people living in the battlefield between the two. It's also a profoundly unharrypottery story, as there, magic is all about what people can do.
Or I fundamentally misread the powers. After all, it could all be within Alexandra's head, and still be true, like the Kings Cross scene in HP.
However, you do clearly steer us into expecting Alex to have a chat with Abraham Thorn.
In other news, while rereading AQ1 and AQ2, I found forward references to the Stars Above, so this has been in the planning for a while now.
Oh, the rejection of Stuart was masterful, even profound: people may have ulterior motives when seeking sex.
And there is still that child-sized monster out there ...
I'd go easier on poor Torvald, though I wouldn't sleep with him.
He grew up in a world where he thought gays were perverts and monsters. This is the first time he's had to deal with them, knowingly, as people and must now deal with his own....superstitions. The idea that you punch someone in such a situation may make a point, but it also isn't right.
Alex was good to give him a wake up call so he can maybe realize everything he was taught isn't always so. If he learns the lesson in the next few days or months is his true test of character.
And our own worlds has just as many predjudices that are 'okay', rationalized and justified so I'm not sure you or I can say we're any better than Torvald.
Like the fact that Alex wasn't afraid to loose her virginity.
Stars were quite otherworldly and disinterested. Alex's reaction is quite like a person who has their flaws pointed out to them but can't wrap their brain around their own flaw, and so very human. It is in fact, very much like Torvald.
That head blindness seems to be very much the theme of the chapter, including the possibility that Alex is missing Anna's interest.
my comment wasn't so much directed at Torvald (I do get that he is young and has had certain prejudiced views presented to him as facts growing up. Though you know, not being able to question that when it comes to your BEST FRIEND...) so much as Alex being awesome....
like, a lot of people aren't necessarily bigoted/homophobic/racist/sexist etc, and yet, when you hear someone say something questionable...especially when it is someone you like/have feelings for...sometimes, its easier to just let it 'slide', decide its not worth it to get into it. but the fact that she was clearly, umabigously sending the message of NO, THAT IS NOT AN OK THING TO SAY...lol, maybe i'm projecting because I'm never that assertive with people, but yeah, IMO she is badass. And obviously could have handled it better, but yeah, they are all young, and the whole Max thing, obviously...
Actually, I don't think punching Torvald in the face was particularly admirable, though I'm glad you liked the scene.
I may write more on this later, as the whole scene is something I (over)thought a lot. I'm just not sure if I should post author's notes on my own story before it's done.
oh, well yeah physical violence is rarely *really* admirable but...as i said, my love of this scene is likely me projecting since i have a tendency to just say/do nothing/avoid confrontation even when people say nonsense that really bothers me
Well, it might not be admirable, but it is completely understandable. Alex has been through being called a mudblood for years, through no fault of her own, only because of her parentage. She had also gotten quite close to Max while he was alive, and his death comes with many painful memories for her. Torvald being the guy she chose to sleep with, whether she loves him or not, means she had some expectations of him. So its completely understandable why Alex would punch him.
Oh, I do think it's understandable. (I wrote her, after all!) Just like I understand Torvald's attitude. I would just hate for people to think that this was a Very Special Chapter of Alexandra Quick where Alex punching another kid in the face for making homophobic comments was meant to be a Crowning Moment of Awesome. It was more like a crowning moment of Alexandra realizing that she still has an open wound where Max is concerned.
Let's be clear: Alexandra is not a homophobe (obviously), and even before she found out about Max, if you'd asked her, she'd have said she thinks there's nothing wrong with being gay. But it's not like she's hanging out on LJ communities learning how to be a good ally and taking up the cause of LGBT rights.
So, her violent response to Torvald was a lot more personal than it was political: Torvald was calling her brother a sick freak.
Now, as her last conversation with him demonstrated, she's made the connection and begun to generalize that.
Haha, I didn't know you agonized about it so much. I didn't really give it a second thought myself. I mean, if my friend or girlfriend started spouting homophobic crap...well, I probably wouldn't punch them, but it would turn into a shouting match really quickly (and the relationship would likely end soon afterward). Saying something stupid is one thing, and bigotry is something very different.
Well, I didn't agonize over it that much, but I really didn't want people thinking I only wrote the scene to show Alexandra Taking a Stand Against Homophobia.
Neatly done! It was perfectly logical for Troublesome to want to do it, but by meta-game, you haint supposed to write 14 years olds at it and you came up with a perfect escape clause.
Likewise, I get where Torvald is coming from. When I did military training, we had to climb a wall, I had problems climbing, so the guy behind, grabbed my arse and pushed me over. So I wanted gays to serve in their own regiments.
" She was still planted here on this world, surrounded by her friends." No. They stood in a 6 pointed star. Troublesome was the focus, she should have been in the centre with the Others arranged in a 5 pointed star.
If Alex had agreed to the pact, she could have asked these questions three. Movie! Wizard of Earthsea was mostly crap, but one nice bit was: Dragon: You win puny mortal. I shall answer two questions. Ged: Hey! Isn't the rule that I get three questions? Dragon: Correct, puny mortal. What are your remaining two questions?
All 6 in a circle at 60* angle; 5 in a circle at 72* angle, 1 in the middle; 4 in a circle at 90*, 2 in the middle; 4 @ 90*, 1 in the middle, 1 off to one side; etc.
People stood in the form of a 6 pointed star. I assert that since Troublesome was the focus of the spell, then by classic magical principles, she should have been at the centre and the Others should have formed a 5 pointed star.
The line "SURROUNDED by her friends" makes more sense if Alex had been in the centre rather than on the periphery.
There were six other people there to form the star around her - Constance, Forbearance, Anna, David, Sonia and Innocence.
I get what you're trying to say with the training example.
When you are in a vulnerable position with someone else, I think a lot of straight people prefer the other person to be another straight person of the same sex. It's 'safer' so to speak because you remove any possibility of sexual tension. People are pretty vulnerable about their bodies, particularly teenagers. To find out that you've been undressing in front of someone you assumed would never look at you in 'that' way but who may have been at points is a pretty big shock, kindof like realizing that the uncovered window you've been undressing in the same room as because you thought no one could see in it from the street *actually* provides a pretty good view if you stand in a certain place on the sidewalk. You have no idea if anyone has been looking when you thought they weren't or not. It makes you feel skittish and uncertain.
I think the boys will patch things up though before the end of the school year (assuming Torvald doesn't die like some people are predicting).
But it still doesn't make Stuart a pervert, or a sick freak. Torvald might be uncomfortable with Stuart being gay because of all the things you mentioned. He might not want to talk to Stuart ever, it wouldn't matter much. But having it firm in ones mind that being gay is perverted or makes you a sick freak is the bigger problem here.
The boys might patch things up, but Alex isn't as easily forgiving. I don't see them getting back together after this. They might get back to speaking terms, but Alex and Torvald, never gonna happen.
I've never really gotten the whole 'i am around a gay person of my gender, oh no they must be attracted to me/checking me out, woe!' impulse...i mean, if you are straight, does that mean you are automatically attracted to EVERY person of the opposite gender? certainly hasn't ever been so for me, and in my experience, going around hitting on people they know are straight is not something most gay people do because hey, most people in general don't like to pursue things if they know rejection is near-certain. I've shared a dorm room with both a gay and a transgendered roommate, and neither of those situations EVER made me feel uncomfortable in that kind of way. :/
that said, fair enough i suppose about them being young teens (though I have seen that sentiment expressed by grown adults >.>) and i do hope they patch up the friendship. it's a pretty lame thing to lose a best friend over :]
Yeah, I was in the military. The guys whining about "Oh noes, what if teh gayz r checking me out in da showers!?!?!" are full of shit. No one is thinking about that in the field, or in the barracks for that matter.
yeah, I find that kind of anti-gay whining especially ironic giving the rather fail rape statistics among active duty personnel. because yeah, clearly the gays' watching is the BIGGEST problem...
During the TRAINING exercise, I felt happy about the no gays in the military rule, because the thought of a gay grabbing my ass would be squicky. If climbing that wall happened during ACTIVE service in a Life or Death situation, I would be grateful to whoever did it.
Shiny, you don't fear gays coming on to you, most straights do fear it. Most straights believe we are pretty, so gays would come on to us.
I think this is foreshadowing that Alex's own roommate and best friend will be coming out soon and I hope Alex is just as accepting if that happens. I'm not sure about Alex/Anna but I'm pretty sure Anna is gay. It definitely seems possible that she has a crush on Alex. Great story so far, I can't wait to read more!
If Troublesome/Anna ever happens, please give us some foreshadowing. PING! They are teenagers, they suddenly fall in love for no rational reason whatsoever is good realism and bad literature.
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inverarity) wrote2012-04-20 07:21 am
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This image floats over Charmbridge as a constant reminder to her students that her word is LAW and that instead of a dark dean, they have a queen; beautiful and terrible as the dawn, tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth!
It gets the message across to the student body that they must love her and despair.........OR ELSE!
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(Anonymous) 2012-04-20 01:29 pm (UTC)(link)Anyway, the Stars Above don't seem much friendlier than Death, and I wonder whether there are more sinister powers in the Lands Beyond. This is shaping up like a Greek tragedy, with lot of gods fightig each other and people living in the battlefield between the two. It's also a profoundly unharrypottery story, as there, magic is all about what people can do.
Or I fundamentally misread the powers. After all, it could all be within Alexandra's head, and still be true, like the Kings Cross scene in HP.
However, you do clearly steer us into expecting Alex to have a chat with Abraham Thorn.
In other news, while rereading AQ1 and AQ2, I found forward references to the Stars Above, so this has been in the planning for a while now.
Oh, the rejection of Stuart was masterful, even profound: people may have ulterior motives when seeking sex.
And there is still that child-sized monster out there ...
--Geneva
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Seriously, Alex is awesome. I loved how that played out. And poor Stuart, to have his 'best friend' react like that :[
Stars meeting quite fascinating. Lots of food for thought. I am especially intruiged by Abraham's role in all this.
But seriously, these chapters totally make my mondays and fridays so much better :]
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He grew up in a world where he thought gays were perverts and monsters. This is the first time he's had to deal with them, knowingly, as people and must now deal with his own....superstitions. The idea that you punch someone in such a situation may make a point, but it also isn't right.
Alex was good to give him a wake up call so he can maybe realize everything he was taught isn't always so. If he learns the lesson in the next few days or months is his true test of character.
And our own worlds has just as many predjudices that are 'okay', rationalized and justified so I'm not sure you or I can say we're any better than Torvald.
Like the fact that Alex wasn't afraid to loose her virginity.
Stars were quite otherworldly and disinterested. Alex's reaction is quite like a person who has their flaws pointed out to them but can't wrap their brain around their own flaw, and so very human. It is in fact, very much like Torvald.
That head blindness seems to be very much the theme of the chapter, including the possibility that Alex is missing Anna's interest.
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like, a lot of people aren't necessarily bigoted/homophobic/racist/sexist etc, and yet, when you hear someone say something questionable...especially when it is someone you like/have feelings for...sometimes, its easier to just let it 'slide', decide its not worth it to get into it. but the fact that she was clearly, umabigously sending the message of NO, THAT IS NOT AN OK THING TO SAY...lol, maybe i'm projecting because I'm never that assertive with people, but yeah, IMO she is badass. And obviously could have handled it better, but yeah, they are all young, and the whole Max thing, obviously...
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And you're right. I wish I was that brave.
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I may write more on this later, as the whole scene is something I (over)thought a lot. I'm just not sure if I should post author's notes on my own story before it's done.
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In which the author rambles a bit
Let's be clear: Alexandra is not a homophobe (obviously), and even before she found out about Max, if you'd asked her, she'd have said she thinks there's nothing wrong with being gay. But it's not like she's hanging out on LJ communities learning how to be a good ally and taking up the cause of LGBT rights.
So, her violent response to Torvald was a lot more personal than it was political: Torvald was calling her brother a sick freak.
Now, as her last conversation with him demonstrated, she's made the connection and begun to generalize that.
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Likewise, I get where Torvald is coming from. When I did military training, we had to climb a wall, I had problems climbing, so the guy behind, grabbed my arse and pushed me over. So I wanted gays to serve in their own regiments.
" She was still planted here on this world, surrounded by her friends."
No. They stood in a 6 pointed star. Troublesome was the focus, she should have been in the centre with the Others arranged in a 5 pointed star.
If Alex had agreed to the pact, she could have asked these questions three. Movie! Wizard of Earthsea was mostly crap, but one nice bit was:
Dragon: You win puny mortal. I shall answer two questions.
Ged: Hey! Isn't the rule that I get three questions?
Dragon: Correct, puny mortal. What are your remaining two questions?
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I'm not following you, re: the star.
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All 6 in a circle at 60* angle; 5 in a circle at 72* angle, 1 in the middle; 4 in a circle at 90*, 2 in the middle; 4 @ 90*, 1 in the middle, 1 off to one side; etc.
People stood in the form of a 6 pointed star. I assert that since Troublesome was the focus of the spell, then by classic magical principles, she should have been at the centre and the Others should have formed a 5 pointed star.
The line "SURROUNDED by her friends" makes more sense if Alex had been in the centre rather than on the periphery.
GEOMETRY, yo!
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(Anonymous) 2012-04-20 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)I get what you're trying to say with the training example.
When you are in a vulnerable position with someone else, I think a lot of straight people prefer the other person to be another straight person of the same sex. It's 'safer' so to speak because you remove any possibility of sexual tension. People are pretty vulnerable about their bodies, particularly teenagers. To find out that you've been undressing in front of someone you assumed would never look at you in 'that' way but who may have been at points is a pretty big shock, kindof like realizing that the uncovered window you've been undressing in the same room as because you thought no one could see in it from the street *actually* provides a pretty good view if you stand in a certain place on the sidewalk. You have no idea if anyone has been looking when you thought they weren't or not. It makes you feel skittish and uncertain.
I think the boys will patch things up though before the end of the school year (assuming Torvald doesn't die like some people are predicting).
So this is real life...
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The boys might patch things up, but Alex isn't as easily forgiving. I don't see them getting back together after this. They might get back to speaking terms, but Alex and Torvald, never gonna happen.
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that said, fair enough i suppose about them being young teens (though I have seen that sentiment expressed by grown adults >.>) and i do hope they patch up the friendship. it's a pretty lame thing to lose a best friend over :]
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Shiny, you don't fear gays coming on to you, most straights do fear it. Most straights believe we are pretty, so gays would come on to us.
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I'm not denying that the mindset you describe is common, but it's nowhere near universal, nor is it even a little bit rational.
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